The Renaissance Letter: Radio silence from city and police officials after heavy police presence downtown Harvey over the weekend

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5. September 23 City Council meeting cancelled

This week’s regular council meeting in Harvey was cancelled. The next regularly scheduled meeting is October 14, 2024.

4. Alberta Walker, co-founder of SEIU Healthcare Illinois, passes away

The Dixmoor resident, a co-founder of the highly influential healthcare labor union, passed away this month. Walker began her home care worker career tending to her son after he was paralyzed from a gunshot would. She also served on the union’s executive board. Walker’s funeral is this Wednesday. SEIU Healthcare Illinois represents about 340 hospital workers at UChicago Ingalls Memorial Hospital in Harvey, excluding nurses.

3. Cook County floating tax relief fund for struggling property owners

County Commissioner Bridget Gainer introduced a resolution last Thursday to create a $15 million fund to help struggling residential property owners with their tax bills. This comes after property tax bills, particularly in the south suburbs, surged to their highest in 30 years. It’s a short-term fix with a paradoxical funding mechanism: the county would create the aid taking a portion from $100 million in expected late fees from tax payments.

With additional details around eligibility still to come, the county board could vote on the measure next month, with the fund ending in 2026. At that time, county leaders would evaluate the program’s efficacy. The target group will be those who’s tax bills jumped unexpectedly or those who pay a considerable amount of their income toward those taxes.

2. Bishop Ronnie Lee resigning from West Harvey-Dixmoor School District 147 school board

Effective October 1, Ronnie Lee will exit the West Harvey-Dixmoor School District 147 school board. Lee is relocating to Lamar, Mississippi, to lead a local church, he announced at the board’s September meeting. He is currently the lead pastor at Nehemiah Christian Center Ministries in Harvey. District 147 is currently accepting letters of interest to fill Lee’s role, and the appointee will fill the remainder of Lee’s term until 2027.

1. Heavy police response from regional forces downtown Harvey. What happened?

A heavy police response from multiple law enforcement departments, including the Illinois State Police, was seen Saturday night. The ISP, Harvey Police Department, as well as law enforcement from Dolton, Calumet Park, South Holland, Thornton, and the arrived to the scene, captured on video and posted on social media by multiple residents.

Witnesses said a shooting incident occurred. However, city nor police officials have released information about the incident to the public, so it’s unclear exactly what happened. This comes amid radio silence from both city and police officials about local violence. The last time Mayor Chris Clark and police brass held a town hall on violence was in February 2023 during the municipal election season.

Data points provided included a drop in homicides and tally of illegal weapons seized by Harvey officers. Officials did not, however, provide any details on other major forms of crime, such as burglaries, sexual assaults, car thefts, or domestic abuse-related crimes. It’s unclear or if Harvey police even track major forms of crime, altogether.

The HWH filed a lawsuit against Harvey in July 2023 after the department failed to turn over requested documents, including crime data. Litigation is ongoing.